Method and apparatus for recovery of water containing silica

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are embodiments of a method and apparatus for the treatment of water containing silica in order to recover as much treated water from a water source as possible while minimizing the generation of waste products. Other embodiments include removing specific elements from the water source and utilizing those elements. Embodiments of the method and apparatus uses in-line physical and physio-chemical treatment methods to remove potential biological, colloidal and hardness foulants continually so that there is minimal loss of water from the water source stream and minimal addition of chemicals to accomplish removal or reduction of these potential recovery-limiting foulants.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Appl. No. 60/940,386 filedon May 25, 2007 and entitled “Method and Apparatus for Recovery of WaterContaining Silica” the entire contents of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT:

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for thetreatment of water containing silica. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a method and apparatus to treat water utilizing a novelcombination of pretreatment and reverse osmosis (RO) processes thatresult in a high percentage of treated water output while lowering theamount of chemical additions used in the process and lowering the amountof process waste.

2. Background of the Invention

Increasing demand for fresh water supplies has led to an increasing needto utilize brackish water sources. At the same time, industriesextracting inland groundwater must meet strict limitations prior todischarging that water.

These brackish waters usually contain silica at concentrations thatlimit to the recovery of treated water for use or discharge. When thesebrackish waters are used as a water supply, it is beneficial to providea treatment method that recovers as much treated water as possible. Whenbrackish water sources are proposed for use or discharged as aby-product of an industrial process, the cost of disposal of theconcentrated waste stream is a primary consideration, as thepurification technologies employed all generate a waste stream.Maximizing the treated water and minimizing the waste stream are commongoals of many treatment methods.

Depending on the treatment technology employed, the treated waterquality desired and the location of the source and options for wastestream disposal, treatment methods such as ultra-violet (UV) oxidation,micron filtration (MF), ion exchange (IX), reverse osmosis (RO),evaporation and some combinations thereof have been employed.

One issue related to addressing current solutions to this problem is thevolume of the waste stream being generated by the conventional treatmentmethods. Because the current processes are volumetrically inefficient, asignificant waste stream is usually generated. Various disposal optionsfor the waste stream exist. Disposal options are generally limited to(a) discharges to surface waters, (b) deep-well disposal, (c) dischargesto existing wastewater treatment plants, or (d) natural or mechanicalevaporation. All of these disposal options are either not feasible orare costly for reasons specific to that option. In (a) a suitablereceiving water must be nearby and environmental regulations must bemet. In (b) the availability and costs of the wells and transmissionlines to a suitable well site meeting environmental regulations must beconsidered. In (c) existing wastewater facilities must be nearby and mayrequire capacity increases or unit process modifications to handle theflows. In (d) the costs of evaporation can increase the cost of treatedwater significantly. Currently, individual treatment technologies aretypically applied and the resulting processes either do not operate athigh enough efficiency, or still result in a significant amount ofconcentrated liquid waste stream that must be disposed of.

As increased efficiencies have been pursued, solutions are availablethat create additional issues. For example, it is well understood that amajor obstacle for increased water recovery utilizing RO solutions isthe presence of silica in the water that creates scaling problems as itsconcentration increases through more efficient recovery processes. Onesolution meant to address the silica problem to date involvescontinuously using acid and/or caustic additions to adjust the naturalpH of the process stream to reduce the risk of scaling and allow higherwater recoveries. One such solution is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No.5,925,255, Mukhopadhyay, filed Aug. 12, 1997, which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety. The required addition ofchemicals to the water treatment process increases the cost andcomplexity of this particular solution.

Solutions such as adding antiscalants to prevent precipitation ofhardness ions and/or silica have also helped increase the recovery rateof some treatment processes. However, it has not been the generalpractice in the industry to operate RO systems on brackish water sourcesat greater than 90% recovery even with the addition of acid or anantiscalant/sequestriant because of the scaling potential risks, thuslimiting the water sources that can be recovered.

Because of these issues and other reasons, the commercial viability ofextremely high RO system recoveries where the concentration of solutesin the final reject is 10 to 100 times the water source stream thereforehas not been established in practice.

Because the RO process concentrates and separates simultaneously, thecommon teachings in the art are to adjust pH of the feed stream to an ROsystem so that the ions, when concentrated by the process, remain insolution and prevent scaling of the membrane. The teaching is also thatthe water recovery of the RO system is limited by the ion solubilityproduct (Ksp) of the sparingly soluble ion pairs in the system, and thatreducing water recovery is a mitigating design response if pH adjustmentis not sufficient. Given these challenges, chemical adjustment of thefeed stream has been taught as the least expensive way to keep feedstream constituents in solution.

Consistent with these approaches, popular water treatment systemmodeling programs, such as those offered by Dow and Hydranautics, put anupper limit of 1.5 times silica solubility as the upper limit of anaggressive water treatment method. At 25° C., this represents a silicaconcentration of somewhere around 120-130 mg/L. In systems where silicais considered to be more than 1.5 times the solubility, lowering ROsystem recovery is recommended by the major membrane manufactures.

As water is becoming increasingly expensive, in short supply, or both,it is desirable to further increase the ratio of the recovered waterstream to the water source stream treated by RO systems.

Therefore, there exists a need for a cost-effective water treatmentprocess that operates at the highest efficiency of water recoverypossible, maximizing the efficiencies of several processes to minimizethe process waste stream volume and maximizes the treated water stream.

There also exists a need for a water treatment method that minimizes thescaling caused by the presence of silica in a water treatment process,which is often the limiting factor for high water recovery levels.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of one embodiment of the invention to provide a methodto remove elements from water comprising receiving a feed water from awater source, the feed water containing at least silica and hardnessions, ensuring the feed water has a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no morethan 3 and polyvalent cations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃, introducing thefeed water to a high pressure side of a high pressure Reverse Osmosis(RO) membrane system and pressurizing the feed water on the highpressure side of the high pressure RO membrane system to produce apermeate stream and a reject stream, the reject stream having a silicaconcentration of at least 140 mg/L.

It is a further object of one embodiment of the invention to receivewater from the water source as a process stream and pretreat the processstream with an ion exchange (IX) softener to produce the feed water.

It is an object of one embodiment of the invention to provide a methodwherein the IX softener is a strong acid cation (SAC) ion exchange resinsystem, a weak acid cation (WAC) ion exchange resin system, or both,operated at least partially in the sodium and the hydrogen form.

It is another object of one embodiment of the invention to provide amethod wherein the method further includes the ensuing step furtherincluding receiving a water source stream from the water source as aprocess stream and pretreating the process stream with an ion exchange(IX) softener to create a first feed water, introducing the first feedwater into a high pressure side of a low pressure RO membrane system,pressurizing the first feed water on the high pressure side of the lowpressure RO membrane system to produce a first reject stream and a firstpermeate stream and introducing the first reject stream as the feedwater to the high pressure side of the high pressure RO membrane system.

It is a further object of one embodiment of the invention to provide amethod wherein the ensuring step further includes a combination of oneor more of the following steps in any order: removing micro-colloidalmaterial from the process stream with at least one micron filtrationunit and exposing the process stream to Ultra-Violet (UV) lights.

It is an object of one embodiment of the invention to provide anapparatus to remove elements from a water, the apparatus comprising atleast one high pressure RO membrane, a water source stream from a watersource containing at least silica and hardness ions, a means to ensure afeed water from has a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no more than 3 andpolyvalent cations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃ and a means to introducethe feed water to the high pressure side of the high pressure ROmembrane whereby the RO membrane produces a permeate stream and a rejectstream, the reject stream having a silica concentration of at least 140mg/L.

It is another object of one embodiment of the invention to provide anapparatus wherein the means to ensure the feed water further includes anIX softener capable of pretreating the water source stream from thewater source to create the feed water.

It is a further object of one embodiment of the invention to provide anapparatus wherein the IX softener is a strong acid cation (SAC) ionexchange resin system or a weak acid cation (WAC) ion exchange resinsystem, or both, capable of being operated at least partially in thesodium and hydrogen form.

It is an object of the one embodiment of the invention to provide anapparatus further including the means to ensure the feed water furtherincludes an IX softener capable of pretreating the water source streamto create a process stream and a low pressure RO membrane system capableof receiving the process stream from the ensuring means as a first feedwater and producing a first permeate stream and a first reject streamwhereby the first reject stream is the feed water introduced to the highpressure side of the high pressure RO membrane system.

It is another object of one embodiment of the invention to provide anapparatus wherein the means to ensure the feed water characteristicsfurther includes at least one micron filtration unit capable of removingmicro-colloidal material from the process stream, at least oneUltra-Violet (UV) light capable of disinfecting the process stream and ameans to add an antiscalant to at least one of the streams selected fromthe group consisting of the process stream and the first reject stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the two stagemethod of this invention.

FIG. 2 shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionillustrating the use of one sequence of multiple steps in thePretreatment Stage and the addition of an evaporation step.

FIG. 3A shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventiondetailing flows and the regeneration process for the IX softening step.

FIG. 3B shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionaddressing high hardness and low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) sourcewater.

FIG. 3C shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionaddressing medium to low hardness and low TDS source water.

FIG. 3D shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionaddressing high hardness and low TDS source water.

FIG. 3E shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionaddressing medium to low hardness and high TDS source water.

FIG. 3F shows a process flow diagram of one embodiment of the inventionaddressing high hardness and high TDS source water.

FIG. 4 shows a system diagram for one embodiment of the apparatus ofthis invention.

FIG. 5 shows a table of results from a Bench Test of one embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention is capable of being implemented in many differentembodiments, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein bedescribed in detail, several specific embodiments, with theunderstanding that the present disclosure can be considered as anexemplification of the principals of the invention and is not intendedto limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. Therefore, it isunderstood that examples and embodiments described herein are forillustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes inlight thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are tobe included within the spirit and purview of this application and scopeof the appended claims. All publications, patents, and patentapplications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety for all purposes.

Disclosed are embodiments of a method and apparatus for the treatment ofwater containing silica in order to recover as much treated water fromthe water source as possible while minimizing the generation of wasteproduct. A typical application includes the treatment of water sourcesdrawn from underground reservoirs containing one or more impurities suchas salinity, colloids, hardness and biological materials. Otherapplications include but are not limited to water recovery and treatmentof waters such as lakes, oceans, runoff, industrial processes, mining,well drilling and other applications involving water. Other embodimentsinclude removing specific elements from the water source and utilizingthose elements. This method and apparatus achieves these results withoutcontinuous acid or caustic addition to the water source or processstream. In order to accomplish that goal, process limitations have beenremoved through this method so that subsequent process steps can beoperated at the maximum water recovery rate possible. The process usesin-line physical and physio-chemical treatment methods to removepotential biological, colloidal and hardness foulants continually sothat there is minimal loss of water from the water source stream andminimal addition of chemicals to accomplish removal or reduction ofthese potential recovery-limiting foulants. In the embodiments describedherein and preliminarily tested on a bench-scale, no continuous chemicaladditions except for a small amount of a silica-specificantiscalant/sequestriant which may be injected into the process stream.

For purposes of describing this invention, foulants are material thatsilica can co-precipitate or complex with, or polymerize with and foulthe membranes of reverse osmosis (RO) systems.

For purposes of this description, the term silica means silicon dioxide.

For purposes of this description, the term silt density index (SDI) isdefined as the results of tests to determine the fouling potential ofwater feeding a membrane filtration process. The test may be defined bythe procedures of standard ASTM D-4189, which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety, as well as other methods of testing thefouling potential of water the art of water filtration.

For purposes of this description, hardness is defined as all polyvalentcations including, but not limited to ions such as iron, calcium,magnesium, barium, strontium, aluminum, and manganese.

For purposes of this description, the percentage of water recovered fromthe system is defined as the volume of water coming from the method orapparatus divided by the volume of the water source stream. The watersource stream represents the water and other elements received from thewater source.

For purposes of this description, the term process stream is defined asthe water stream that is received and processed by the methods andapparatus described in this description. The process stream includes,but is not limited to the water source stream and the process streamthrough the pretreatment stage

For purposes of this description, the term feed water is defined as thewater stream that is received by an RO membrane described within thehigh pressure RO stage as described herein.

For purposes of this description, total dissolved solids (TDS) isdefined as the combined content of all inorganic and organic substancescontained in a liquid which are present in a molecular, ionized ormicro-granular suspended form.

For purposes of this description, the term element is defined as thosefoulants or other materials that are suspended or otherwise present inwater and removed by the methods and apparatus described in thisdescription. Elements include, but are not limited to bacteria, silt,silica and polyvalent cations.

ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE METHOD

One embodiment of the inventive method disclosed involves receiving awater source stream from a water source as a feed water stream to a highpressure RO process. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A, thecharacteristics of a water source stream is received as step 111 andensured by step 110 to be a feed water having an SDI of no more than 3and polyvalent cations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃. This feed water isintroduced to a High Pressure RO Stage 120 comprising introducing thefeed water to the high pressure side of a high pressure RO membranesystem where the RO membrane system is capable of producing a rejectstream with high concentrations of silica and a permeate streamcomprising a high percentage of water. Step 124 is the recovery of waterfrom the method disclosed.

Ensuring the feed stream has the characteristic of the feed waterdescribed above can be made by equipment measuring the characteristicsof the feed water directly. It is also possible for the characteristicsof the feed water to be known as a result of other processes, such asbut not limited to the pretreatment methods discussed below, that createand/or measure the characteristics of water as output from thoseprocesses.

A water source capable of having the characteristics of the feed wateris possible where hardness and silt have been removed from the watersource stream. Examples of these types of feed water include, but arenot limited to other softening systems in other water treatment systemsor as by-products of industrial processes.

A water source stream capable of having the characteristics of the feedwater described above is also possible where the water has becomeavailable without the presence of hardness or silt. Examples of thesetypes of water source streams include, but are not limited to geothermalwater sources.

Another embodiment, shown in FIG. 1B illustrates a two stage embodimentof the present invention. The first of the two stages, the PretreatmentStage 110, involves removing foulants and hardness from the water sourcestream that typically cause fouling and scaling in downstream ROmembrane systems. This Pretreatment Stage ensures the characteristics ofthe feed water. These methods of removing potential biological,colloidal, organic, inorganic and other foulants minimize the loss ofwater from the process stream and do not require the addition ofchemical to the process stream to assist in the removal of thesefoulants. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, hardness is removed by theuse of an IX softening step 114 that is described in detail below. Thesecond of the two major stages, the High Pressure RO Stage 120 involvesthe passing of the pretreated process stream as the feed water through aseries of steps involving RO systems. In one embodiment step 120comprises passing the feed water through step 123 which comprises ahigh-pressure RO system process. The absence of foulants and hardnesstogether with the presence of the antiscalant and the high pressure,enables this high pressure RO system process 123 to create a permeatestream without the scaling typically found in the RO systems of othersolutions operating on feed water with similar characteristics. Thepermeate stream from step 123 is forwarded to be the recovery step 124where the low solute recovered water is stored or otherwise utilized.The reject stream from step 123 is a high solute waste stream that maybe further treated to reclaim elements.

When other steps are added within and around these two major stages, theresult is a method that can recover significantly higher quantities ofwater from the water source than other processes. Tests have shown thatthis method can recover more than 90% of the water, by volume, of thesource stream volume. The increased water recovery also provides thebenefit of reduced waste. For purposes of this description, recoveredwater is defined as water with a lowered solute concentration than thesource stream. The methods of this embodiment are accomplished withoutalkalinity removal and without acid or caustic addition to the processon a continuous basis.

Another embodiment of the method is described below utilizing theembodiment shown in FIG. 2.

Depending on the characteristics of the water, various steps in theprocess may be removed, resequenced or otherwise modified while stillembodying the disclosed invention. Some of these alternativeembodiments, although not all, are illustrated further in FIGS. 3A-3F.

ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE PRETREATMENT STAGE

As shown in FIG. 2, the first stage of another embodiment of thismethod, the Pretreatment Stage 210, removes many of the foulants andhardness from the water source that typically causes fouling indownstream RO system membranes of this process. As described above, itis understood that if the water source already has a sufficientreduction of foulants and hardness, the Pretreatment Stage 210 may notbe necessary in this process. When foulants and hardness are present,this first stage can involve multiple steps that can be performed in anyorder. The output of this Pretreatment Stage 210 is a process streamoutput with a silt density index generally less than 3.0 and a low levelof hardness and polyvalent cations that cause hardness as describedearlier.

The purpose of the Pretreatment Stage 210 is to provide a process streamwith the characteristics desired as a feed water into the following HighPressure RO Stage 220. Therefore, depending on the characteristics ofthe water source, it is understood that these steps may be performedalone, in any combination and in any order. In one embodiment shown inFIG. 2, the Pretreatment Stage 210 of the process comprises three stepsof UV oxidation 212, micron filtration 213 and ion-exchange 214performed in the following order.

Referring to FIG. 2, after receiving the water 211 as a water sourcestream, the UV oxidation step 212 of this Pretreatment Stage 210mitigates the potential for bacterial growth and colonization caused bythese foulants. This step is typically but not necessarily used withground water sources that contain bacteria. UV oxidation 212 can beaccomplished via ultraviolet light (UV). UV in the wavelength range of180-325 nanometer (nm) is an example of an effective disinfectiontechnology for the destruction of micro-organisms. The UV light isapplied to the water source or process stream through UV lamps that arepositioned in a manner such that the water process stream is exposed tothe UV light. As the process stream flows past the UV source, themicroorganisms are exposed to the UV light which alters the DNA materialin cells so that bacteria, viruses, molds, algae and othermicroorganisms can no longer reproduce. The microorganisms areconsidered dead, and the risk of disease from them is significantlyreduced. This UV oxidation step 212 removes one potential foulant of thedownstream RO system membrane. The use of UV oxidation for disinfectionas opposed to oxidizing chemicals such as chlorine eliminates the needfor the addition of chemicals to destroy the oxidant prior to thedownstream RO systems. Also, UV oxidation does not create halogenatedby-products if organics are present in the water source.

The UV oxidation step 212 may not be needed in the Pretreatment Stage210 if the source water does not contain significant concentrations ofmicroorganisms that may pose a substantial risk for membrane fouling.

The next step of this Pretreatment Stage 210 is micron filtration 213that reduces the micro-colloidal material that can also cause foulingand scaling with the water recovery process. Scaling occurring in ROsystem processes refers to the deposition of “hard scale” on the ROmembrane due to the solubility of sparingly soluble salts or silicabeing exceeded. Fouling refers to both scaling as well as the deposit ofvarious materials such as organics and particulates and occurs in allmembrane filtration processes.

This micron filtration step 213 removes colloidal and insoluble organic,inorganic and biologic foulants. Effective filtration of these particlescan be accomplished through one to five micron, non-regenerable filterunits or regenerable membrane micron filtration units, typicallyreferred to as ultrafiltration (UF) or microfiltration (MF) systems thatutilize membranes with sub-micron pore sizes. The use of near-absolute,non-regenerable filtration helps increase the recovery of water from thewater source.

The removal of micro-colloidal material is helpful because a highrecovery RO system membrane separates ionic solutes from the watersource and concentrates them simultaneously as the membrane selectivelyremoves water molecules preferentially over ionic solutes. Small amountsof precipitates or colloids in the RO system can become sites for moreprecipitates to form. If ionic solutes and silica are present in thewater source under the high concentrations expected at high waterrecovery, it could form metal co-precipitates, insoluble silicatesand/or polymerize more quickly around a nucleus of colloidal orprecipitated material. Thus, micron filtration or ultra filtration unitsremove scale forming precipitates, colloidal and organic material whichwould operate to foul the RO system membrane.

Micron filtration 213 can be performed with any type of physical filteror membrane capable of removing micro-colloidal materials. However, theuse of cartridge based micron filtration units in one embodiment has theadded advantage that fouled cartridges can be easily replaced withoutthe liquid waste produced by a membrane filter regeneration process.

If the use of membrane micron filtration or ultra filtration isrequired, these membranes will need to be backwashed and the overallrecovery of the treated stream may be reduced by the volume of the wastestream generated by the backwash in this type of a micron filtrationstep.

The micron filtration step 213 may not be needed in the PretreatmentStage if the level of colloids, when measured by the silt density indexmethod is less than 3.0.

In order to further reduce the potential for the scaling, removal ofcations that form sparingly soluble compounds that are present isperformed by ion exchange (IX) softening step 214. Certain common cationand anion solutes found in ground water sources, when concentrated bythe RO system membrane process, will precipitate if their ion solubilityproduct (Ksp), is exceeded. Usually the sulfate and carbonate compoundsof calcium, magnesium, and various other polyvalent metal cations, suchas iron and aluminum, will be present in sufficient concentrations topresent a precipitation problem for reverse osmosis membrane systemswhen operating at high recovery. IX softening 214 removes hardnesscreated by polyvalent cations by, preferably, a weak acid cation (WAC)ion exchange resin or, alternatively, a conventional strong acid cation(SAC) ion exchange resin or a combination of the two resins. Weak acidresins are preferred due to their high capacity for polyvalent cations,stoichiometric regeneration efficiencies and ability to reduce hardnessions to less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃. Weak acid resins can be operated ineither the hydrogen or sodium form.

In some instances, especially when the water contains high hardness, aSAC ion exchange resin may be used in the IX softening 214 step toremove the major portion of the polyvalent cations. The SAC resin may beused alone or as a more cost-effective hardness removal step ahead of aWAC resin. An example of a flow diagram utilizing a SAC resin ahead of aWAC resin is shown in FIG. 3D.

The choice of SAC, WAC or a combination of SAC/WAC resin technologies inthis treatment process step depends on the level of hardness andalkalinity in the water source. The purpose of this IX softening step214 is to reduce the total hardness, as defined earlier, in the brackishprocess stream to very low hardness levels (typically less than 5 mg/Las CaCO₃ equivalent).

When the weak acid cation (WAC) ion exchange resin becomes loaded withcations, it is regenerated near stoichiometrically using a solution ofdilute hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. If the process stream containsless hardness than alkalinity, the resin must be placed (or partiallyplaced) in the sodium form. This is accomplished by following the acidregeneration step with a caustic regeneration step. Because of thestoichiometric regeneration efficiency of the WAC resin, the resultingregenerated brine contains mostly hardness ions and can be beneficiallyreused by re-injecting the brine into the RO permeate stream to increasethe hardness and/or sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). This becomesimportant when the product water is applied to land or used forirrigation. Alternatively, the WAC regenerate solution can be routed toan evaporation system, pond or disposed of outside of the treatmentprocess.

When the SAC resin becomes loaded, it is regenerated with a 10% saltsolution (generally sodium chloride). This brine will be formulated byusing commercially available salt. The brine regenerant, which nowcontains hardness cations and salt, is either routed to an evaporationsystem or pond or disposed of outside of the treatment process.

The regeneration process is illustrated in FIG. 3A and shows theadditional benefit of this invention in that the regenerant may also beused as input into the recovered water.

The IX softening step 214 may not be needed in the Pretreatment Stage210 if the source water has a hardness less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃.

The result of this Pretreatment Stage 210 is a process stream outputwith a silt density index less than 3.0 and water low in polyvalentcations.

ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE HIGH PRESSURE RO STAGE

One embodiment of the second stage, the High Pressure RO Stage is shownin FIG. 2. The characteristics of the process stream feeding this HighPressure RO Stage 220 is a feed water with significantly reducedhardness, colloids and bacteria. If these characteristics exist in thewater source, or at other places in the process stream, that water maybe used as the feed water to the High Pressure RO Stage 220 at thatpoint of the process. Normally, the High Pressure RO Stage 220 comprisesboth a high pressure 223 and a low pressure RO step 221. It isunderstood that the feed water feeding this High Pressure RO Stage 220could have characteristics that would eliminate the need for the first,low pressure RO step 221. For example, if the dissolved saltconcentration is already high, then this step may be eliminated and onlythe high pressure RO step 223 is necessary. For purposes of thisdescription, an embodiment will be described that comprises both a lowpressure RO step and a high pressure RO step that includes pretreatingthe reject stream from the first RO step with an antiscalant.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first step of the High Pressure RO Stage 220,the low pressure RO step 221 comprises passing the process stream fromthe first Pretreatment Stage 210 as a first feed water to a conventionalbrackish RO system. This low pressure RO system utilizes brackish ROmembrane technology and generally operates at rates of up to 90% waterrecovery from the process stream. Unlike most conventional brackishwater RO systems however, in the invention proposed herein, the ROsystem will treat feed water that requires no acid adjustment andcontains no scale inhibitor. Also, unlike other RO processes, there isno pH adjustment or de-carbonation of the process stream providing thefeed water to the RO system in this embodiment of the invention. Thislow pressure RO system step 221 separates the first feed water into twostreams; a permeate stream and a reject stream. In this embodiment, thelow pressure RO permeate stream is conveyed to a water recovery process224 where it is mixed with other product streams and stabilized fordischarge out of the system and use. The low pressure RO reject streamis conveyed as the feed water to another high pressure RO system step223 for further recovery.

The low pressure RO step 221 comprises a RO purification system commonin the water purification industry in which a feed water is pumpedagainst a semi-permeable membrane under pressure. Low pressure membranesare defined as those that are tested at manufacturer's test conditionsat less than 400 psi. The membrane allows treated water to pass throughto the permeate stream while rejecting the impurities, both suspendedand dissolved into the reject stream. This low pressure RO systemmembrane used in this invention method may be utilized in variousconfigurations. As an example, and not as a limitation, it is possibleto use nanofilters or a composite membrane in a plate-and-frame or aspiral wound configuration.

As mentioned above, the need for the low pressure RO step 221 depends onthe concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the feed water tothe RO system. If the TDS concentration of the process stream is greaterthan approximately 8,000 mg/L, then the low-pressure, brackish water ROsystem is generally not required. There are many instances when theprocess stream may already contain high TDS. For example, high TDS watersources may occur naturally, or be generated in by a production processor result from other water treatment processes, such as an existingbrackish water RO system or evaporator.

Examples of embodiments of this invention without the low pressure ROsystem are shown in FIG. 3E and FIG. 3F.

In some cases, the low pressure RO reject water may be injected with anantiscalant and/or sequestering agent ahead of the high pressure ROsystem to minimize the potential for scaling of the membranes fromsparingly soluble salts (e.g., calcium carbonate) and silica.

As shown in FIG. 2, the step of adding antiscalant 222 comprises theaddition of approximately one to ten parts per million of a specializedantiscalant polymer with the RO reject stream from the first RO system.The antiscalant is a material that retards the precipitation orpolymerization of silica so that it can exceed its solubility as theprocess stream moves through the recovery process.

In some cases, the need for an antiscalant may be eliminated if it canbe demonstrated that the antiscalant is not needed to keep silica fromscaling the membranes. This may occur when the water chemistry is suchthat silica is naturally stabilized or sequestered in solution by ioniccompounds, such as sodium bicarbonate.

The high pressure RO step 223 of the High Pressure RO Stage 220pressurizes the reject stream of the low pressure RO step 221 with theantiscalant through a second, high pressure RO system so that greaterthan 80% of the reject stream from the low pressure RO system step 221is recovered or until the silica auto-polymerizes within the processstream. The water recovery of the second RO system is ultimately limitedby the average osmotic pressure of the RO system, the RO membraneoperating pressure limitations and/or by the uninitiated polymerizationlevels of silica. It has been determined through testing and analysis,that embodiments of this invention are expect to achieve concentrationlevels approaching or exceeding ten times the solubility levels ofsilica. The permeate stream from the high pressure RO system step 223 isconveyed to a water recovery process 224 where it is combined with thefirst RO system's permeate for discharge out of the system for storageor use.

Because only the reject stream from the first RO system is subjected tothe pressurized RO system in this embodiment, the increased cost ofpressurizing and operating the second RO system is minimized.

The water recovery step 224 comprises the collection and distribution oftreated water for storage or use.

As shown in FIG. 2, to further reduce the waste stream volume, oneembodiment of the invention includes treating the final reject streamfrom the high pressure RO system with an evaporation step 225. This stepfurther reduces the volume of the reject from the second RO system,sometimes reducing the volume by at least one half. Distillate from theevaporation step 225 is passed to the water recovery step 224. Theresulting waste stream, representing as little as 1% of the initialsource water received into the system, is discharged from the treatmentprocess. The reject stream entering this evaporator step 225 istypically in the range of 5% to 12% by weight salt, and is predominantlythe sodium salts of chloride, sulfates and/or bicarbonates. In theevaporator discharge, these salts approach 30% by weight, and can bedirected to a pond or crystallizer for dry salt production. Theresulting waste may be landfilled or beneficially re-used as a valuablebyproduct.

In summary, therefore, embodiments of this proposed invention define amethod that can recover significant amounts of water from the watersource and accomplishes this high recovery with no alkalinity removaland no acid or caustic addition to the process stream on a continuousbasis. For commonly encountered water sources such as, but not limitedto oil and gas filed produced water and brackish ground or surfacewater, the rate of water recovered can exceed 90%. Brackish ground wateris generally ground water with TDS in the range of 500 to 20,000 mg/L.Embodiments of the process use in-line physical and physio-chemicaltreatment methods to remove any potential biological, colloidal andhardness foulants continually so that there is minimal loss of waterfrom the water source and minimal addition of chemicals to accomplishremoval or reduction of these potential recovery-limiting foulants.

ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE APPARATUS

The methods of this invention, as described earlier, can be implementedthrough an apparatus as described below. One embodiment of the waterrecovery apparatus is shown in FIG. 4 where the water recovery apparatus400 represents a collection of equipment connected in a manner thatallows a stream from a water source to be received and passed betweenthe equipment as the flow of a process stream. At the conclusion of thewater recovery process, recovered water and waste are produced. Just asthe earlier described methods of this invention allow for thereordering, removal and modification of method steps, the apparatus canfunction with the reordering, removal and modification of the systemsthat implement those steps. For illustration purposes, and not forlimitation, the apparatus will be described utilizing the two stages andmultiple steps described above. Specifically, the apparatus will bedescribed to be consistent with the embodiment of the method illustratedin FIG. 2. Furthermore, the recitation of specific part numbers andcomponent suppliers as described herein are for example purposes only,and shall not limit the scope of the invention in any manner.

Referring to the embodiment in FIG. 4, water is received by and passedwithin the water recovery apparatus 400 utilizing piping, plumbing,pumps, tanks, conduits, canals, culverts and other water treatment andtransportation equipment that is well known to one in the art of watertreatment. In one embodiment, the lines and conduits to be used in thesystem consist of 0.5-12 inch diameter PVC conduits manufactured bySpear Manufacturing Co. of Sylmar, Calif. or similar conduits made ofmetal (e.g. stainless steel). Stainless steel and other metallic pipingis also contemplated. Likewise, valves used in the system may consist ofmetallic, plastic and standard PVC motorized ball valves manufactured byHayward Industrial Products, Inc. of Elizabeth, N.J. or other comparablevalves known in the art. Holding tanks and other pieces of equipments tohold, store and otherwise ensure the proper flow of the process streamand apparatus supplies are also anticipated as being utilized andpresent in this apparatus. However, it should be noted that specificstructural components (e.g. valves, lines, tanks and the like) used toimplement the processes characterized herein may be suitably varieddepending on the desired size and pressure requirements of the system,and the present invention shall not be exclusively limited to theillustrated embodiment and components identified as example components.

As discussed above in the methods of embodiments of the invention, themeans to ensure the proper characteristics of the feed water into the ROsystems can include, but are not limited to direct measuring systems ofthe feed stream or through knowledge of the feed water characteristicsfrom treatment processes the water has been subjected to. Measuringequipment of this type includes, but is not limited to, equipment andkits such as common hardness monitors, pH monitors, SDI monitors, TDSmonitors, total oxidizable carbon (TOC) monitors, conductivity monitorsand other common water treatment equipment and sensors to monitor thecharacteristics of a water stream. It is also contemplated that theinclusion of treatment or pretreatment equipment into this apparatus,such as described herein, can create and therefore ensure feed waterwith the proper characteristics. In the embodiment described below, thecharacteristics of the feed water are ensured through the pretreatmentof the water source stream using a combination of the pretreatmentequipment described below.

Referring to FIG. 4, water from the water source 411 is passed to a UVoxidizer. For the UV oxidizer 412, the UV light source may be anyultraviolet lamp source that generates ultraviolet emission. This caninclude, but should not be limited to a low pressure mercury lamp. Thelight source must be packaged in a manner that allows the light sourceto be exposed to the process stream, or water source stream, from thewater source. An example of one embodiment of the UV oxidizer 412includes a 12 GPM (UV) ULTRAVIOLET DISINFECTION SYSTEM, Model: UV-S-12-Qsold by RainDance Water Systems of P.O. Box 2312 Ramona, Calif. and theEnaqua XUV System, manufactured and sold by Enaqua, Inc., 2446 CadesWay, Vista, Calif. Other embodiments of UV light sources capable ofapplying UV in the wavelength range generally of 180-325 nanometer (nm)are contemplated.

The disinfected process stream from the UV oxidizer 412 is passed to themicron filter 413. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation, anexample of micron filtration equipment that is suitable for use in theinvention is the Model 740B Series micron cartridge filters manufacturedby 3M Company, Minneapolis, Minn. These cartridges are housed in theTri-Plex cartridge filter housing. An example of a microfiltration (MF)or ultrafiltration (UF) unit that can be employed is the pressurizedsystem based on the Norit XIGA membrane filters, 1330 Anvil Dr,Rockford, Ill. 61115, or the Siemens Memcor L10V or L20V membranefilters, 600 Arrasmith Trail, Ames, Iowa 50010, or the Pall Corporationmembrane filtration system, 839 NYS Route 13, Courtland, N.Y. 13045.Another suitable micron filter implementation is the Amiad AMF²microfiber filter offered for sale by Amiad Filtration Systems, 2220Celsius Avenue, Unit B, Oxnard, Calif. 93030. As an option topressurized micron filtration systems, a vacuum driven membrane systemsuch as the GE Zeeweed 1000, manufactured by GE subsidiary Zenon, 3239Dundas St. West, Oakville, ON L6M 4B2 Canada, can be employed to providethe necessary removal of fine colloidal material when present in thewater source.

The filtered process stream for the micron filter 413 is then passed tothe ion exchanger 414. For illustration purposes, and not forlimitation, examples of strong acid cation (SAC) exchange resins used toremove polyvalent cations from solution include Purolite C100, DowexMarathon C and Rohm & Haas IRC 1200Na. The resin is contained in a tankor other container suitable for efficiently contacting water to removepolyvalent cations and load them onto the resin. When the resin isloaded, the equipment includes a means for regenerating the resin bycontacting the resin with a salt solution (e.g, sodium chloride) toremove the loaded polyvalent ions to first form a waste brine streamconsisting of hardness ions and a sodium regenerated resin for reuse.Examples of manufacturers of suitable strong ion exchange resin systemsinclude Anderson Water Systems (Dundas, Ontario) and IntegratedSeparation Solutions, LLC. (Madison, Wis.). Examples of weak acid cation(SAC) exchange resins used to remove polyvalent cations from solutioninclude Purolite C105E, Dowex MAC-3 and Rohm & Haas IRC 86. The resin iscontained in a tank or other container suitable for efficientlycontacting water to remove polyvalent cations and load them onto theresin. When the resin is loaded, the equipment includes a means forregenerating the resin by contacting the resin with a dilute acidsolution (e.g., hydrochloric acid) to remove the loaded polyvalent ionsto first form a waste brine stream consisting of hardness ions ahydrogen regenerated resin for reuse. Examples of manufacturers of weakion exchange resin systems include Anderson Water Systems (Dundas,Ontario) and Integrated Separation Solutions, LLC. (Madison, Wis.).

The process stream from the ion exchanger 414 is then passed as the feedwater to the High Pressure RO Stage, which in the embodiment shown inFIG. 4, starts with the low pressure RO system 421. The RO system 421 isa water purification process in which water is pumped against asemipermeable membrane under pressure. The membrane allows product waterto pass through to a permeate stream while rejecting the impurities,both suspended and dissolved into a reject stream. The feed water flowsparallel to the semipermeable membrane with a fraction of it passingthrough a given membrane area; dissolved ionic and organic solutes arelargely rejected by the membrane. As an example, and not to be limiting,one embodiment of a low pressure RO membrane is a Filmtec, crosslinked,interfacially polymerized, aromatic polyamide membrane. Membranes ofthis type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,344, John I. Cadotte,Filed Feb. 22, 1979, which is incorporated herein by reference. Forillustration purposes, and not for limitation, examples of low pressurereverse osmosis (RO) membranes that can be used in the invention are thecrosslinked, interfacially polymerized polyamides membranes manufacturedby Dow Chemical under the trademark name Filmtec, 5400 Dewey Hill Rd.,Edina, Minn. 55439, and the similar products manufactured by TorayIndustries 12140 Community Rd., Suite B, Poway, Calif. 92064, and theESPA brand manufactured by Hydranautics, a subsidiary of Nitto Denko,401 Jones Rd, Oceanside, Calif. 92054. Low pressure membranes aredefined as those that are tested at manufacturer's test conditions atless than 400 psi. These membranes are housed in reinforced pressurevessels. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation purposes,suitable pressure vessels include fiberglass pressure vessels such asthose manufactured by Protec, a subsidiary of Baekart Composites andlocated at 2455 Ash, St., Vista, Calif. 92081, or by Codeline PressureVessels. In some embodiments, the pressure vessels are assembled on askid with the interconnecting piping made of stainless steel andpolyvinylchloride (PVC) where appropriate for the pressures in thesystem. Feed pumps to pressurize the feed water to the RO membranes canbe installed on this skid or mounted separately. Instrumentation tomonitor the flows, pressures and conductivities of the streams aremonitored by a process computer. Energy recovery devices can also beemployed to minimize the energy usage of the RO system, then theequipment supplied by Energy Recovery, Inc, 1908 Doolittle Dr., SanLeandro, Calif. 94577 is one example of equipment that can be employedfor this purpose.

In this embodiment, the reject stream from the low pressure RO system421 is injected with an antiscalant 427 through the use of a materialaddition apparatus 422. The antiscalant 427 is a silica inhibitor thatretards the polymerization of silica and allows it to exceed itssolubility. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation, anexample antiscalant that can be used in one embodiment of the inventionis the Spectra-Guard SC, manufactured by Professional WaterTechnologies, 4151 Avenida de la Plata, Oceanside, Calif. 92056 dilutedin an 11:1 ratio for dosing rates in the range of 1 to 10 parts-permillion (PPM). Another typical example of an antiscalant 427 that can beused in the invention to chelate hardness ions and metals is Versene100, which is manufactured by Dow Chemical. The use of otherantiscalants is also contemplated.

The reject stream from the low pressure RO system 421 is received by thehigh pressure RO system 423. The high pressure RO system 423 used inthis embodiment of the invention is common and well known in the art.For illustration purposes and not for limitation, an example of asuitable high pressure RO membrane system would use membranes designedand tested by the manufacturer for a 400 psi transmembrane pressure.These membranes are typically used in seawater desalinationapplications. They are similar to the cross-linked, interfaciallypolymerized polyamide membranes described as part of the low pressure ROsystem 421 except that they contain a more rigid permeate carriermaterial to withstand the higher process pressures. The HydranauticsSWC-series, the Dow/Filmtec SW30-series and the Toray TM820-seriesmembranes are examples of, but not limiting examples of some of themembrane types that are suitable for this system. These membranes arehoused in high-pressure versions of reinforced fiberglass pressurevessels. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation, pressurevessels such as those manufactured by Protec and Codeline can be used ina similar manner as the low pressure RO membrane housings. The pressurevessels can be assembled on a skid or other platform with pumps andinterconnecting piping of a pressure rating suitable for the highpressure within this system. These components are common materialsavailable from many suppliers and are well-known in the art. The pumpingsystem for the high pressure RO system 423 typically consists ofmultiple pumps or pump systems. In a two pump system, a first pump feedsthe first stage vessels and an inter-stage boost pump that feeds thesecond stage vessels. Several models of pumps can be used in theinvention. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation, examplesof suitable pumps include centrifugal pumps manufactured by Grundfos,Flowserve and Union are suitable and positive displacement pumpsmanufactured by Wheatly are also suitable. The specific model of pumpdepends on the flow rates for the specific application. Controls andvalves used in the high pressure RO system 423 are also similar to lowpressure RO systems described previously. In this embodiment, the highpressure system 423 passes a reject stream to an evaporator system 425and passes recovered water to a recovered water retainer 424 or othersystem to recover and/or reuse the treated water.

The reject stream from the high pressure RO system 423 is passed to theevaporator 425 to further recover water and reduce the level of waster.Any evaporator system common in the water recovery industry isappropriate. For illustration purposes, and not for limitation, anexample of suitable evaporator equipment for this application is adouble-effect evaporator, such as the WasteSaver Model manufactured bySAMSCO. Waste from the evaporator system 425 is passed to a wasteretainer 426 or other method of recovering the waste. Distillate fromthe evaporator 425 is passed to the recovered water retainer 424 orother system to recover and/or reuse the recovered water.

OPERATIONAL EXAMPLE OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE METHOD

Referring to FIG. 2, the following is a description of the operation ofone embodiment of the disclosed system upon the water source and theprocess stream. FIG. 2 is used to illustrate one embodiment of theinvention however it is recognized, as it is described earlier in thespecification, the steps can be performed in different sequences withone or more of the steps missing.

A typical water source that is received in step 111, but not to limitthe types of water source that can be treated by the disclosedinvention, includes water drawn from underground reservoirs thatcontains one or more impurities such as dissolved salts, colloids,hardness and biological materials. The pH of the water is thenaturally-occurring pH as is the temperature. There may be levels ofbacteria and naturally-occurring organic matter. With typical watersources, there may be levels of bacteria that need to be inactivated andcolloidal matter that has to be removed prior to concentrating theprocess stream and separating the ionic constituents. Some water sourcesmay contain naturally-occurring organic matter at levels that willnecessitate removal prior to the RO units. This water source is receivedas a water source stream in step 211 and passed to the UV oxidation step212.

UV oxidation 212 is applied to the water source stream when bacteriallevels in the water source stream need to inactivated. Thecharacteristic of the water output from this step is the same as thewater source stream with the exception that there is no bacterialactivity. There is typically no loss of water volume in the processstream resulting from this step. The water coming from the UV oxidation212 is passed as the process stream to micron filtration 213.

The micron filtration step 213 removes colloidal materials when presentin the process stream. The colloids are retained in the filter elementsof a cartridge filtration device or a membrane filtration system (UF orMF system). Therefore, the process stream is passed out of the micronfiltration step 213 absent the colloidal materials retained in thefilter. The loss of water volume in the process stream resulting fromthis step is minimal and typically occurs as filters are changed orcleaned. Having passed through both the UV oxidation step 212 and themicron filtration step 213, the process stream has reduced bacterialactivity and reduced colloids.

The process stream for micron filtration step 213 is passed to the IXsoftening step 214 to remove divalent and polyvalent cations present inthe process stream. The output of the IX softening step 214 is a processstream typically containing less than 5 mg/L total hardness as CaCO₃,when analyzed by industry standard methods defined by the American WaterWorks Association. Trace level polyvalent cations, such as barium,strontium, iron, and aluminum, will be present in the process streamafter this micron filtration step 213 at near standard analyticaldetection levels. The loss of water volume from the process streamresulting from this step is minimal and only occurs if process streamwater is used in the regeneration of the ion exchange resins.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the output of this PretreatmentStage 210 is a process stream with no bacterial activity, reducedcolloids and reduced hardness. Silica is still present as a solute inthe process stream. This process stream is then fed as the feed waterinto the steps of the High Pressure RO Stage 220.

The low pressure RO step 221 step allows the feed water to pass throughthe RO membrane as the permeate stream while maintaining the silica insolution and passing the portion of feed water with increasedconcentrations of suspended silica and other ionic constituents off asthe reject stream. The permeate stream in one embodiment representapproximately 85% of the volume of the original water source stream andgenerally contains solutes at concentrations less than 5% of the soluteconcentration of the feed water entering this low pressure RO step 221.In one embodiment, the reject stream contains the remaining 15% of thefeed water volume with silica and other ionic constituents inconcentrations at least 6 times the concentration when fed into step221. The reject stream is passed to the add antiscalant step 222.

Adding the antiscalant in step 222 adds approximately one to ten partsper million of a specialized antiscalant polymer into the RO rejectstream from the first RO system. This reject stream with antiscalant ispassed as the feed water to the high pressure RO step 223.

The high pressure RO step 223 further separates silica from the feedwater creating a permeate stream of recovered, low solute water. In oneembodiment, this permeate stream represents approximately 85% of thevolume of the feed water fed into this step. In one embodiment, the ROpermeate stream output generally contains solutes at concentrations lessthan 5% of the feed water that entered this step and a reject streamthat represents approximately 15% of the volume with 6 times the soluteconcentration of the feed water fed into step 223.

For some embodiments of the invention, at the conclusion of the HighPressure RO Stage 220, as much as 98% of the water source stream fedinto this process has been recovered as a permeate stream with thecharacteristics of recovered, low solute water and as low as 2% of thesource stream has been separated as a reject stream. Higher recoveryrates smaller reject streams are also possible.

The evaporation step 225 further reduces the volume of the concentratedreject stream of the High Pressure RO Stage 220. The reject stream canbe reduced by approximately 50% or more in some embodiments of theinvention. The concentrated solute output from the evaporation step 225is two to three times the concentrated reject from the high pressure ROstep 223 and can be discharged to a facility for recovery such as drysalt production. The condensate output from this step can be combinedwith the permeate stream of the High Pressure RO Stage 220.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE METHOD AND APPARATUS

Not for limitation, but for illustration, other embodiments of themethods and apparatus described above are shown in FIGS. 3A-3F. Theillustrated embodiments are described as implementations of theapparatus, but they also illustrate alternative embodiments of themethods described above. Each of these figures has a key showing thoseprocess steps and system components that are capable of having acontinuous, intermittent and optional flow between other steps andcomponents.

As shown in FIG. 3A, one embodiment of the system includes an IXsoftener 314 as part of the Pretreatment Stage 310. The IX softener maybe a SAC, WAC or a combined SAC and WAC system. The UV oxidizer 312,micron filter 313, antisclant/sequestreriant addition 322, low pressureRO 321 and evaporation 325 systems may also be included as illustratedbut they are not required. The use of the tank 317 is to hold regeneratefor addition of the recovered water.

FIG. 3B shows an embodiment including a SAC IX softener 315 as part ofthe Pretreatment Stage 310 and a WAC IX softener 324 as part of the HighPressure RO Stage 320. The UV oxidizer 312, micron filter 313,antisclant/sequestreriant addition 322 and low pressure RO system 321may also be included as illustrated but they are not required. In thisembodiment, the regenerant brine can be intermittently added to thepermeate and waste stream.

As shown in FIG. 3C, one embodiment of the process includes a WAC IXsoftener 316 as part of the Pretreatment Stage 310. In this embodiment,the RO system 328 is a combined low pressure and high pressure ROsystem. The UV oxidizer 312, micron filter 313 andantisclant/sequestreriant addition equipment 322 may also be included asillustrated but they are not required. FIG. 3C also shows onealternative configuration of the sequence of steps and components of thePretreatment Stage 310.

FIG. 3D shows an embodiment including both SAC 315 and WAC IX softener316 and a combined low pressure and high pressure RO system 328. The UVoxidizer 312, micron filter 313 and antisclant/sequestreriant additionequipment 322 may also be included as illustrated but they are notrequired.

As shown in FIG. 3E, one embodiment of the process includes a WAC IXsoftener 316 as part of the Pretreatment Stage 310. In this embodiment,the RO system is a high pressure RO system 329. The UV oxidizer 312,micron filter 313 and antisclant/sequestreriant addition equipment 322may also be included as illustrated but they are not required.

FIG. 3F shows an embodiment including both SAC 315 and WAC IX softener316 and a high pressure RO system 329. The UV oxidizer 312, micronfilter 313 and antisclant/sequestreriant addition equipment 322 may alsobe included as illustrated but they are not required.

PILOT TEST OF ONE EMBODIMENT

A pilot water treatment system was set up to test the efficacy of someembodiments of the methods disclosed. The pilot water treatment systemsuccessfully reduced the volume of a 1970 mg/L total dissolved solids(TDS) brackish water source by as much as 98%. No scaling was observed.The silica sequestriant utilized provided significant safety margin intime prior to observing the final reject beginning to exhibit signs ofsilica precipitation or polymerization. Details of the pilot waterrecovery methods and apparatus tested are described below.

A bench-scale test of two high recovery reverse osmosis (RO) options fortreating coalbed natural gas (CBNG) produced water collected from gasfields. This water contains approximately 1,900 mg/L TDS, consistingmostly of sodium bicarbonate but also includes trace level constituents,including silica, hardness and other sparingly soluble salts (e.g.,barium, strontium and iron).

The primary objectives of the bench-tests were to:

-   -   a. Determine the potential for membrane fouling to occur,        primarily from silica.    -   b. Determine the maximum water recovery of the treatment process        without observing membrane fouling. The target water recovery        was 98%.    -   c. Evaluate the effectiveness of each option for meeting the        Specific Conductivity (SC) and SAR discharge standards of 1,000        microsiemens/cm and 3.0, respectively.

Neutral pH Treatment Results:

For the bench-scale test, the following treatment steps were completed:

-   -   a. Raw water was softened through a weak acid cation (WAC) resin        operated in the sodium form    -   b. The softened water was filtered through a one micron        cartridge filter    -   c. The softened, filtered water was then treated to 85% recovery        in a bench-scale RO test system    -   d. The reject from the low pressure RO system was then injected        with 3.5 mg/L of an antiscalant and treated in the high pressure        RO system to a final RO recovery of about 98%.

The results of this test are shown in FIG. 5 shown below.

Major Results from the Test:

Major results from this test are as follow:

-   -   a. A silt density index (SDI) of the raw feed water was found to        be too high to measure (>5).    -   b. The WAC treatment step successfully reduced the hardness of        the raw feed water to less than 1 mg/L as CaCO3.    -   c. After softening and cartridge filtration, the SDI of the RO        feed water was reduced to less than 1.0.    -   d. The final water recovery from the RO process was determined        to be 98% (by volume) at a final pressure of about 1,100 psig.        Further recovery was limited by equipment limitation (could not        safely exceed a pressure of 1,100 psig).    -   e. There was no evidence of membrane fouling throughout the        process, including at 98% recovery, where the salt        concentrations are about 50 times the feed concentration.    -   f. The silica concentration was difficult to measure in the        final reject stream due to interference from the silica-specific        scale inhibitor. Through mass balance calculations, the silica        is likely in the 500 to 600 mg/L range rather than as shown in        FIG. 5. This is supported by the fact that no silica was        visually present either in the final reject stream or in the        equipment once it was dismantled.    -   g. A sample of the final reject stream was collected and        maintained at room temperature overnight. After approximately 12        to 14 hours, precipitate began to form in the sample bottle,        indicating that the silica remained at supersaturated conditions        for extended periods of time before finally precipitating from        solution.    -   h. A sample of the final reject was also placed in an ice bath        and left overnight. After being cooled, a significant volume of        precipitate was formed at the bottom of the container. This is        most likely sodium bicarbonate salts.

The overall results from this test successfully confirmed that 98%recovery is possible for this water source without membrane fouling fromions such as silica. A pilot test is planned to confirm these results ina continuous on-site process.

With respect to the above descriptions it is to be realized that theoptimum relationships for the parts of the invention, to includevariations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner ofoperation, assembly, order and use, are deemed readily apparent andobvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships tothose illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification areintended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact embodiment and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of theinvention. Although this invention has been described in the above formswith a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that thepresent disclosure has been made only by way of example and numerouschanges in the details of construction and combination and arrangementof parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

1. A method to remove elements from water, said method comprising thesteps of: receiving a feed water from a water source, the feed watercontaining at least silica and hardness ions; ensuring the feed waterhas a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no more than 3 and polyvalent cationsless than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃; introducing the feed water to a high pressureside of a high pressure Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane system; andpressurizing the feed water on the high pressure side of the highpressure RO membrane system to produce a permeate stream and a rejectstream, the reject stream having a silica concentration of at least 140mg/L.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the high pressure RO membranesystem is operated at a pressure of at least 400 psi.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the ensuring step further includes: receiving a watersource stream from the water source as a process stream; and pretreatingthe process stream with an ion exchange (IX) softener to produce thefeed water.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the IX softener is a weakacid cation (WAC) ion exchange resin system operated at least partiallyin the sodium form.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the wherein the IXsoftener is a WAC ion exchange resin system operated at least partiallyin the hydrogen form.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the IX softeneris a strong acid cation (SAC) ion exchange resin system.
 7. The methodof claim 1 further including: the ensuing step further includesreceiving a water source stream from the water source as a processstream and pretreating the process stream with an ion exchange (IX)softener to create a first feed water; introducing the first feed waterinto a high pressure side of a low pressure RO membrane system;pressurizing the first feed water on the high pressure side of the lowpressure RO membrane system to produce a first reject stream and a firstpermeate stream; and introducing the first reject stream as the feedwater to the high pressure side of the high pressure RO membrane system.8. The method of claim 7 wherein the low pressure RO membrane system isoperated at a pressure less than 400 psi.
 9. The method of claim 7wherein the ensuring step further includes removing micro-colloidalmaterial from the process stream with at least one micron filtrationunit.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the at least one micronfiltration unit removes micro-colloidal material in the range of 0.01 to5 microns in size.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the ensuring stepfurther includes exposing the process stream to Ultra-Violet (UV)lights.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising adding at leastone of the steps selected from the group consisting of: adding anantiscalant to the process stream; and adding an antiscalant to thefirst reject stream.
 13. An apparatus to remove elements from a water,said apparatus comprising: at least one high pressure RO membrane; awater source stream from a water source containing at least silica andhardness ions; a means to ensure a feed water from the water sourcestream has a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no more than 3 and polyvalentcations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO₃; and a means to introduce the feedwater to the high pressure side of the high pressure RO membrane wherebythe RO membrane produces a permeate stream and a reject stream, thereject stream having a silica concentration of at least 140 mg/L. 14.The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the high pressure RO membrane systemis capable of being operated at a pressure of at least 400 psi.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 13 wherein the means to ensure the feed water furtherincludes an IX softener capable of pretreating the water source streamfrom the water source to create the feed water.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 15 wherein the IX softener is a weak acid cation (WAC) ionexchange resin system capable of being operated at least partially inthe sodium form.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the IX softeneris a WAC ion exchange resin system capable of being operated at leastpartially in the hydrogen form.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15 whereinthe IX softener is a strong acid cation (SAC) ion exchange resin system.19. The apparatus of claim 13 further including: the means to ensure thefeed water further includes an IX softener capable of pretreating thewater source stream to create a process stream; and a low pressure ROmembrane system capable of receiving the process stream from theensuring means as a first feed water and producing a first permeatestream and a first reject stream whereby the first reject stream is thefeed water introduced to the high pressure side of the high pressure ROmembrane system.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the low pressureRO membrane system is capable of being operated at a pressure less than400 psi.
 21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the means to ensure thefeed water further includes at least one micron filtration unit capableof removing micro-colloidal material from the process stream.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 21 wherein the at least one micron filtration unitremoves micro-colloidal material in the range of 0.01 to 5 microns insize.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the means to ensure the feedwater further includes at least one Ultra-Violet (UV) light capable ofdisinfecting the process stream.
 24. The apparatus of claim 21 furthercomprising a means to add an antiscalant to at least one of the streamsselected from the group consisting of: the process stream; and the firstreject stream.